Mourning facts for kids

Not to be confused with morning

Mourning is the way people show sadness when someone they love has died. It's a natural process of feeling and expressing deep sorrow, often called grief. This usually happens around funerals or memorial services. People mourn to remember the person who passed away and to cope with their feelings of loss.

Understanding Mourning and Grief

Mourning is how we outwardly show our sadness after a loss. It can involve many things, like wearing special clothes or taking part in certain traditions. Grief, on the other hand, is the deep emotional pain and sadness we feel inside. Everyone experiences grief differently, and there's no right or wrong way to feel.

Why People Mourn

People mourn for several reasons. It helps them accept that a loved one is gone. It also allows them to express their feelings of sadness and loss. Mourning can also be a way to honor the person who died. It helps people connect with others who are also sad.

How People Mourn

Mourning traditions vary greatly around the world. Different cultures and religions have their own ways of showing respect and sadness. Some common ways people mourn include:

• Attending funerals or memorial services.
• Wearing special clothes, often black or white.
• Holding ceremonies or rituals.
• Visiting graves or special places.
• Sharing memories of the person who died.

Mourning Clothes and Jewelry

For a long time, especially in the 19th century, people wore specific clothes to show they were in mourning. These clothes were usually black. This was a way for others to know that someone was experiencing a loss. Sometimes, people would wear special jewelry made for mourning. This jewelry might have a picture of the person who died or a lock of their hair.

Mourning in History

Throughout history, mourning customs have changed. In some periods, mourning periods could last for a very long time. For example, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom wore black for the rest of her life after her husband, Prince Albert, died. This showed her deep sorrow and respect. Different cultures have always had unique ways to express grief, from quiet reflection to loud expressions of sorrow.

Images for kids

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  Girl in a mourning dress holding a framed photograph of her father, who presumably died during the American Civil War.

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  Egyptian women in a sorrowful gesture of mourning.

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  Japanese funeral arrangement.

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  Catherine de' Medici as widow, c. 1560s

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  Mary, Queen of Scots, in deuil blanc c. 1559 following the deaths of her father-in-law, mother, and first husband Francis II of France.

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  Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands wearing white mourning after the death of husband in 1934.

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  Advertisement for Victorian mourning garb

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  Mourning jewelry

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  Queen Victoria with the five surviving children of her daughter, Princess Alice, dressed in mourning clothing for their mother and their sister Princess Marie in early 1879.

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  The five daughters of Prince Albert wore black dresses and posed for a portrait with his statue following his death in 1861.

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  Mourning dress, c. 1867, Museum of Funeral Customs

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  Poor orphans depicted wearing a makeshift black armband to mourn for their mother (Work by F.M. Brown), 1865

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  Queen Paola of Belgium in "grand deuil"

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  Thailand national flag flown at half mast at a high school in Bangkok during the state mourning of the King Bhumibol

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  A mourning ritual of the Mingrelians in Georgia, c. 1884.

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  Maria Luisa, Queen of Spain lying in state, by Sebastián Muñoz, 1689, displays the full panoply of lying in state

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  This 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld depicts the death of Bathsheba's first child with David, who lamented, "I shall go to him, but he will not return to me" (Samuel%2012:23;&version=KJV; 2 Samuel 12:23)

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  A woman mourning the death of her husband, Prague, 1772

See also

In Spanish: Luto para niños